Wednesday, 16 July 2008

Nothing was more fitting than this pretty photo by the very talented Jen Altman for me to post as a thank you to you all for your very kind emails, comments and tips for my trip to France. I couldn't be more grateful. What an amazing group of people this blog has introduced me to. I hope you all stay happy and well while I am away and I promise to have lots of inspiration for you upon my return!! In the meantime, do visit the lovely blogs I have listed in my blogroll as they will give you lots of inspiration while I am gone!! xx Anna

Tuesday, 15 July 2008

I thought I would post this picture of a vintage cane chair {one of a pair of chairs} which just came back from our upholsterer today for the shop. I just love the fresh colourway of this Florence Broadhurst fabric and I felt it was a perfect choice for these chairs. They actually look so gorgeous with the blue striped sofa we currently have in the shop...I hope they all get sold to the same person as they look so wonderful together!!

I am so thrilled to be included in the Domino Magazine Editor's Picks: International Design Blogs list compiled by Holly Becker from Decor 8! Click HERE to see my listing amongst an amazing round up of design blog talent!! Thanks Holly & Domino for including me!!

Thursday, 10 July 2008

In Summer I love having lunches outside and even more I love taking my table and chairs out on the grass! I love this image above - the white table, the white benches and those gorgeous white end chairs - so lovely!

Wednesday, 9 July 2008

Here are some pictures of an apartment I have been working on lately with Jules, it's gorgeous owner! She has been so fun to work with and she is so easy as she loves everything I show her! I just adore her Art Deco apartment and I love the very thrown together, imperfect sort of a mix we have created which is what she wanted from the outset - she didn't want it to look like I had been there!! Thanks for being such a lovely, lovely client Jules, I have thoroughly enjoyed working with you on this project and I can't wait till the wallpaper in the hallway goes up! I'll be sure to post pictures of that once it's done!!

While I was searching for my French Inspired images I stumbled across these beautiful balloon images from Imapix's photostream @ Flickr which I had to share...the colours are so beautiful don't you think?!

Tuesday, 8 July 2008

Oh, I absolutely LOVE this vintage lady from Paris Hotel Boutique but I can't have it as I am going away next week and I have to save all my pennies for my trip!! I'll just have to leave it for one of you lovely readers out there!!

Tonight I'm going to dinner with a friend to celebrate her birthday. I always love to put lots of effort into wrapping my gifts and one thing I often do is wrap my gifts in wallpaper which I may have left over from a job or from a display we have done at Black & Spiro. This gift above, which I will give to my friend tonight, I wrapped in some left over Designer Guild paper I had. I just think it's a lovely way to make your gift look a little different and also for me it's a great way to use up the left overs!!

Sunday, 6 July 2008

Hello again! Hope you're having a great weekend! This afternoon I've been pottering around reading magazines, drinking coffee and just enjoying a lovely Winter Sunday afternoon at home! This picture above by James Merrell pretty much sums up my afternoon!! What have you been doing today??

Friday, 4 July 2008

Oh, I just had to pop back before I headed off for the weekend to give you this little picture which one of my friends sent me this week very early one morning via email with the words......"Have a great day!" What a lovely thing she is!! Isn't it wonderful to have friends who care about you!!

Remember back in January when I told you I was heading to Paris??!! If not, click HERE to refresh your memory!

Well here I am with 13 days left to go before I present my seminar in Melbourne and as I answer my last question on that exciting Thursday morning I will be filled with so much anticipation as that afternoon I will be leaving on a plane bound for Paris.

In Paris I will meet my two very special girlfriends for the start of a 3 week girls only trip. After a week long indulgent visit to Paris we will head to the South of France where we will stop in Aix-en-Provence for some time and then we head down further to the coastal town of St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. After a few days in Cap-Ferrat we head to Venice and then I will leave my gorgeous friends and head back to London where I will be visiting the Notting Hill Markets before I board a plane homeward bound. I will be purchasing lots of fantastic things for Black & Spiro and when I get home I will have some wonderful news for you all!! So 13 days to go and counting - it certainly has been a long wait as I booked this trip almost 12 months ago to the day!!

Hope you all have a great weekend and I look forward to next week as the final count down begins. Oh and I have a special apartment I have worked on which I will show you too!! See you soon! xx Anna

I established this blog in 2006 so that I could record my inspirations, my thoughts and my work as an Interior Designer. Based in Brisbane, Australia, my store Black & Spiro is always filled with a unique collection of interesting things which we scour the globe to find. I am most passionate about my family, my career, tradition, collecting, flowers, fabric, gardening, colour and quality and I will always strive to be creative and extraordinary in everything I do. I hope I can inspire you to live a bright and colourful life surrounded by the things you love.